Alphabet Soup
by Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet
Summary: 26 drabbles, one around a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Challenge Accomplished. Example: Marinette practically flew through the door into her room, slammed it shut, threw her backpack at the chaise and flopped on the chair in front of her computer so hard it rolled a good three feet. Then she let out a frustrated scream. "THAT STUPID CAT!"
1. Chapter 1

**Attention** –

They'd foiled him again. Hawk Moth grit his teeth, grinding them angrily. It happened again and again and again.

"Well, Ladybug and Chat Noir," he practically growled. "You certainly have my attention. Your loss."

 **Bait** –

The Akuma grinned triumphantly at the people floating in the air around them. They floated in front of the Eiffel Tower patiently waiting for Ladybug.

She didn't take the bait, instead sneaking up on the Akuma from behind. Chat allowed himself to pause for a moment and just admire his lady. She was so amazing. Then it was back to the fight. Super villains didn't defeat themselves, after all.

 **Coins –**

"Which one is it?" Chat Noir asked worriedly as he stared down at the coins on the street. They were all replicas of the exact same coin – the one that held the akuma.

The current victim just chuckled. "You may want to hurry. I'm expecting company."

"You're not exactly coining that phrase," Chat said.

Ladybug groaned then shot her hand in the air. "Lucky charm!" Because they were going to need it this time.

"A metal detector?" Ladybug asked.

"You want to find more coins, M'Lady?"

Ladybug shot a questioning glance at Chat Noir. "Maybe the coins aren't made of metal? They are magic."

No, no wait. That would take to long. She only had five minutes...

She searched the coins on the ground then it occurred to her. Why would the Akuma let their coin go like that? That's when she glanced at where the victim was floating in the air, smug smile on his face.

"Chat!" then she jerked her head towards the Akuma. He understood, thankfully, and rushed the akuma. Ladybug was right behind him, but they were coming at different angles. So, naturally, he went to stop Chat first. Chat, who bounded up towards him on his baton, flipping and kicking at him, followed by Ladybug who used her metal detector on the akuma. It squeaked very loudly over one particular pocket. She and Chat exchanged glances as Ladybug used the detector to push the guy down. It would only buy them a second, but that was all Chat needed.

Ladybug threw her yoyo at her partner, grabbed his ankle and swung him down towards the Akuma.

This all happened within seconds, and the victim didn't really have time to move as Chat more or less slammed into him.

"Why you," he growled. He hadn't hit the ground, although Chat landed on his feet a few meters away. Ladybug had also rolled to her feet in the middle of the street on the opposite side. The Akuma was glaring at Ladybug and started towards her until Chat called out.

"Ah, ah!" They both looked towards him and he held up a coin in his hand triumphantly. "Cataclysm!"

Two minutes later the Akuma had been purified, the damage restored and the duo had exchanged a fist bump before turning to rush away from the scene and detransform.

 **Direct –**

Marinette felt like a broken record.

"Alya, you _need_ to stay away from the akuma fights! One day you're going to get hurt before Ladybug and Chat Noir can get to you!"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," the reporter replied as she edited her latest video.

" _This is Alya Cesaire, coming to you direct from the akuma battle!_ " said her voice in the video as she recorded the fight Ladybug and Chat Noir had just taken care of that afternoon. A fight where she was all too close to the action. A fight where she could have gotten _seriously_ hurt... again.

Marinette just groaned and let her head thump on the desk in front of her.

 **Effort** –

Marinette practically flew through the door into her room, slammed it shut, threw her backpack at the chaise and flopped on the chair in front of her computer so hard it rolled a good three feet. Then she let out a frustrated scream.

"THAT STUPID CAT!"

Tikki flew out of her clutch worriedly.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" she asked.

The dark-haried girl glared at her kwami. "You heard him, didn't you? Sitting there, dropping hints, spouting puns, _in class!_ He may as well paint a giant sign above his head that says 'Look here! I'm Chat Noir!' He's going to give our secrets away if he's not careful and he _doesn't seem to care!_ "

Tikki frowned. "I still don't think you should have said what you did. He looked really hurt."

Marinette felt a twinge of guilt, but was still too angry to give in.

"Well we _can't_ be together if he's just going to be _reckless_! People are going to question him changing that much that fast. Just because we know each other's identities... I mean, I know he's excited and happy it's... I just... Aarg! I didn't think that it would be this _hard_ just to get along with him!" And there was the hurt. The sadness. The insecurity. Maybe she and Adrien _weren't_ meant to be together. Why did that thought make it so hard to breathe? She felt tears coming to her eyes.

The kwami studied her for several seconds before sighing. "You need to look at it from his point of view, Marinette. For most of his life, he's grown up thinking that he has to be perfect. Then he becomes a super hero and can act however he wants to, but only when he's in his suit. Now that you both know who the other is, he's probably having a hard time separating those two lives again and you need to give him time to come to terms with it all."

And there was the guilt again. Adrien may have anything he's ever wanted when it comes to physical possessions, but she knows he doesn't get love or attention at home. She'd had an idea when it came to Adrien and she'd gleaned a lot when it came to Chat and when she found out they were one and the same, she thought she'd been prepared to give him that attention that he craved. Because that's what he was seeking from her when he acted like that, wasn't it.

She wiped away the tears in her eyes and flicked her gaze up to Tikki, still a little angry. "That doesn't make it safe."

"There are a lot of excuses you could use. You two did just start dating. That's bound to mean changes."

"But not like that."

Tikki shrugged. "I've seen it happen before. It's a change in his life, so it could bring out parts of his personality that he normally represses."

And there went all of the anger, replaced by horror. Of course Adrien had been repressing things he wanted to say and do – trying to be the perfect son for his father. Would he start acting like that around her too? Repressing what he wanted to say and do just because she didn't approve? That wasn't what she wanted. She just didn't want him to out his secret identity, because there was only so much the magic could cover for.

She suddenly felt absolutely terrible for what she'd said to him and groaned.

"Tikki, why do relationships have to be so _hard_?" she asked.

The little fairy floated up to her, chuckling softly as she patted her cheek. "Anything worth while requires effort. Especially relationships."

Marinette sighed. "I should probably take him some cookies as an apology gift," she muttered. "But that doesn't mean that he should be that reckless still."

"Then you need to talk about it like adults," Tikki said matter-of-factly.

And that was the final nail in the coffin of Marinette's temper. "I'll go get started on those and take them to him tonight," she muttered, slumping over to the trap door and lifting it up. Before she got half way down the stairs, though, she paused and glanced over at her kwami.

"Tikki... Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Tikki smiled. "You'd do your best, Marinette. That's all anyone can ask of you."

The teenager smiled and went to start on her apology.

 **Farewells**

It had been 2 weeks since she'd seen him. Fourteen long days of his (supposedly) short tour through Europe as he did several shoots for the coming clothing lines. Alright, she and Adrien had texted and video chatted and skyped, but it wasn't the same. Now she waited on the train station platform, shifting nervously from foot to foot because she'd _missed_ him. Not having him there just wasn't the same.

The excitement churned in her stomach as she remembered what he'd said when she'd seen him off. "Farewells aren't so bad because they make the resulting hello that much sweeter." The silly, cheesy cat. And yet, she wanted it to be true.

Just then, she saw him approach through the crowd his blond hair distinctive.

"Adrien!" she called out, waving her hand excitedly.

He turned to see her and a stupid, silly grin split his face. He ran towards her, scooped her up and twirled her around.

"Mari!" he said into her neck. Then he set her down and kissed her.

She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, his cheesy line had been right.

Gentle

If there was something that Marinette loved about Adrien, it was how kind he was, how much he cared for others and how caring he was towards his friends. He treated each and every one of them like they were made of gold or more, like they all had so much worth. His gentle words of comfort, his happy words of encouragement, his firm words of support...

Somehow, he was everything she wished she could be and more.

And she loved him for it.

 **Hero**

"Adrien!" Alya yelled out from beside Marinette, who immediately panicked.

"Alya!" she hissed.

Naturally, her best friend ignored her and continued to wave.

"What are you doing?" the dark-haired girl asked, panic beginning to rise in her chest.

"Research," Alya replied as the blond walked up to them with a smile.

"Hey Alya, Marinette," he said with that heart-melting smile. "What's up?"

Alya grinned and took out her phone. "There's a discussion online about how Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't really heroes because, as far as we know, they haven't had any training. So I'm asking around to see what people think are heroes. Do you mind telling me what you think and can I put it on the blog?"

The blond looked almost as shocked as Marinette felt. Not heroes? Well, sure, they hadn't had official training, more on-the-job kind of experience, but they were getting better, right? And who else could take care of the akumas.

The look that suddenly fell over Adrien's face almost made Marinette step back. Sure, she'd seen him looking cute and sweet and adorable and sad and frustrated and worried, but this... She'd never seen him look almost _defensive_ like this.

"Sure. Put me on."

Alya's grin widened and she held up her camera.

"So, what's your opinion on what a hero is."

"Heroes are people who care about others. Training and experience help, but that doesn't define a hero. Heroes are people who will give up their time and energy and sleep and comfort to help someone else. A hero can be someone who smiles at a friend and lifts them up. Or a hero can be a fireman who just wants to save lives and will risk their life to do so. Or a hero can be a cop, putting their lives on the line to make sure that the city is actually safe. Or it can be girl who wears a red-polka-dotted suit and stops _magical super villains_ from destroying a city. We come across heroes every day, most without any sort of training whatsoever. And considering that Paris is still standing, I'd say that Ladybug and Chat Noir, while not perfect, _are_ pretty dang amazing heroes. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go and look it up in a dictionary."

Marinette couldn't help her hanging jaw and she could feel her cheeks had gone bright red, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the model in front of her.

He paused for a moment, looking something up on his phone. Then he read aloud. "According to the dictionary, a hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities." Then he glanced up with a challenging gaze that kind of made Marinette's heart do flip-flops. "Never says anything about training. So I guess that answers that question."

"Thank you so much, Adrien Agreste!" Alya said in her chipper interview voice.

The blond smiled. "No problem."

The red-head shut off the phone and then squealed. "You're the best, Adrien!" With that, she shot forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm going to get a few more people and edit them all into a video. I'll let you know when it's up, ok?"

Adrien nodded. "Thanks."

"Come on, Marinette," Alya said, dragging her still dazed friend after her. She didn't notice the tears in her best friend's eyes or the warm, grateful smile Marinette managed to shoot Adrien before they disappeared inside the school.

 **Indiscreet**

Marinette wanted to bang her head against the desk. Chloe was sitting there preening, singing Queen Bee's praises and... she really just needed to get a sign that said 'I'm Queen Bee!' and find a way to hang it over her head.

Didn't she know the meaning of the word 'discreet'?

Then again, Chloe had always been the most 'indiscreet' person she'd ever met.

 **Jello**

"Adrien," Plagg said warily, "what's this?" He was looking at the squares of green gelatin that sat on a plate on his table."

Adrien, for his part, grimaced. "We had a pot-luck in school today. Someone brought this. It had cheese in it so I thought you'd like it."

Plagg could only stare in horror. "Who would ruin good cheese by putting it in _that_?!"

The model sighed. "Apparently Sabrina."

"I knew I never liked that girl," Plagg said with a huff.

"Oh, come on, just try it," Adrien said with a sigh.

Plagg looked torn. He couldn't very well let good cheese go to waste, and yet he couldn't exactly eat _that_.

Finally his greedy side won out and Plagg carefully took a piece of cheese-laced Jello and stuck it in his mouth.

"Huh, not so bad," he said.

Adrien wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disgusted.

 **Kittens**

Adrien walked in the door to his apartment with a relieved sigh. He loved teaching, he really did, but that didn't make his job any easier. Honestly, he almost wished they could go back to fighting akuma. Almost.

"Marinette?" he called out, checking to see if his wife was home.

"Rough day?" he heard her call from the other room. He walked into her sewing room to see her hard at work as usual.

"Eh, it wasn't so bad. Although I think super heroing is probably easier."

She didn't turn to look at him, but he did see her grin as she pulled the bundle of material away from the sewing machine and cut the threads dangling from it.

"There we go," she said with a smile.

"So what have you been up to?" he asked. "Still working on that commission?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I finished that up this morning. I actually made this for you."

With that, she held up a large, very comfortable looking sweatshirt that said 'Papa Cat' on it.

He grinned. "It looks great, Mari. Why did you put that on the front of it?" he asked. Not that he was complaining. Anything that had to do with cats.

"Well I had to," she said nonchalantly. "If we're going to have a kitten."

Adrien froze.

Wait... _what?!_

"Mari... are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She turned around and beamed up at him. "If you think I'm telling you I'm pregnant, then yes."

Before she could even finish he'd rushed forward and scooped her up into his arms, whirling her around.

"Adrien!" she admonished playfully. He stopped her from protesting more by kissing her.

 **Light**

He knew he should have talked her out of it, but he'd thought he could handle it. He'd really, _really_ thought he wouldn't have this much of a problem with that red, glowing dot that would _not_ go away and he just had to _stop_ it...

To the class's utter shock, he jumped at the little light again as it _moved._ He ignored them. They didn't get it. They didn't understand just how _wrong_ it was to have something that small dodging away from him at any second, like it owned him, like he couldn't touch it.

Oh, he'd show it! He _would!_

The rational part of his mind pointed out that he really, really couldn't catch it, and he _knew_ it was right. And yet he. Couldn't. _Stop!_

Marinette, who held the laser pointer and who had been explaining their project now seemed to move the dot around in a bit of a daze. Like she couldn't really believe this was happening.

Adrien went to stand up again, sheepish.

But then it _moved_ again!

He jumped after it, and then groaned internally. He could almost hear Plagg laughing at him now.

Stupid cat instincts.

 **Marriage**

The bride looked stunning. The designer gown with the flowing material pooling at the back to spread out like a river of white. Her hair done up in gorgeous curls under a veil that Marinette had designed herself.

"Oh... wow," she heard Nino say and glanced over to the two men standing and watching Alya walk down the aisle. Marinette grinned at them and then blushed as Adrien raised an eyebrow at her, pointed to his chest, to her, and then to himself again. She felt the ring on her finger and her stomach dropped. She suppressed a smile and sent a subtle gesture for him to stop. This was Alya and Nino's day, not theirs. They would have their own day next month.

Somehow, that thought just made the whole ceremony that much better.

 **Notes**

"Hey, Marinette," a familiar voice called out. Marinette's whole body froze for a moment, but she managed to turn around and face the gorgeous blond coming in her direction.

"A-adrien!"

Beside her, Alya gave a fond sigh that Marinette ignored.

"Yeah, sorry to bug you, but I was wondering if I could borrow your notes from History. Nino didn't take any and I need to know what went on."

Marinette tried to suppress her wince. That had been during the akuma fight.

"Uh, s-sorry, I upheld got – got held up! – because of the fight Akuma – Akuma fight! – and didn't notes take. I mean, take notes!" She was really getting sick of turning into a blubbering mess around her crush.

"Oh. Too bad," Adrien said sympathetically before glancing over at Alya. "Do you have the notes?"

"Right here," she said, patting her backpack. "Marinette was just going to copy them. Would you like to join us?"

Marinette stared at her friend in amazement. Somehow, she felt like she was in heaven, despite the fact that her knees felt like jelly. That was _brilliant_!

"Oh, sure! Just let me tell my driver," Adrien said with a grin and stepped away with his phone in his hand.

"Do you love me, girl?" Alya asked with a grin.

"YES!" Marinette squealed and threw her arms around her best friend.

 **Oxen**

"What?" Ladybug asked as she looked down into the street full of what looked like cattle.

"Those are oxen," Chat said. "I think. They could be bulls."

Marinette blinked and then glanced over at Chat worriedly. "Bulls... as in bull fights... as in..."

Of course, at that point, at one end of the street, a man dressed as a Matador flashed his red cloak.

Both of the heroes swore under their breath.

 **Partridge**

"What's this?" Ladybug asked as Chat handed her a cage. "Don't tell me you're going to make some sort of canary joke." She blew on her hands, trying to keep them warm. The suit helped a lot, but still...

"Please, My Lady," Chat said, sounding almost offended. "If I were to do that, I'd get you an actual canary."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "So what's this?" she asked, pointing towards the brown and white striped bird in the cage.

Chat's grin grew and she knew he was about to make a joke.

"It's a partridge. I couldn't carry a pear tree around, but I figured this would work. Merry Christmas, My Lady."

Ladybug sighed and took the cage, but couldn't quite keep the smile off of her face. "Oh, Chaton."

 **Queen**

Chloe sat on the window seat in her room, staring out at the Parisian skyline. Usually it gave her a sense of her own power and position. It made her feel like a princess... no, like the _queen_ she was. She had everything she ever wanted. Power, money prestige, good taste, even a miraculous, recently.

She had everything.

Except what she really wanted.

She couldn't get it out of her head. Adrien and that...that...

She buried her head in her arms.

What was the point of being a queen if she couldn't get the one thing she wanted?

 **Round**

Adrien looked at his eyes in the mirror and frowned. He didn't like those eyes. Those round, human eyes. It symbolized the mask he was growing to hate. Inhuman, slitted eyes... that's what he wanted to see.

"Plagg," he whispered. "Claws out."

 **Stare**

Sometimes, Chat Noir couldn't help but just stare at his lady. She'd point out the stars, but she shone brighter than the moon. She'd point out the city, but nothing could surpass her glow. She'd point out the land marks, but they always looked so much better with her near them.

Then she'd catch him and he'd just send a wicked smile at her. She'd roll her eyes, look away and leave him to stare some more.

 **Turtle**

"You're a what?" Nino asked the little...thing hovering before him.

"A kwami."

"No, I mean what animal?"

That caused the being to blink a bit. "A turtle. Isn't that obvious?"

Nino sighed. "Not really, dude. But that's cool."

 **Urn**

"Master?" the butterfly kwami's eyes opened wide as Gabriel came storming into the room.

"An _urn_?" he growled. "He compared my creation to an _urn!"_

The kwami sighed. This would not end well.

"Nooroo, Wings Rise!" Gabriel bit out.

Twenty minutes later, the critic was being dragged out of his apartment by an akuma. Ladybug and Chat Noir got there and saved him easily enough, but Gabriel still left the room in a much better mood.

The Kwami just shook his head and sighed.

 **Vixen** ,

Rina Rouge was nothing like Volpina. They may have looked similar, but Rina Rouge was uplifting where Volpina had been condescending. She was encouraging where Volpina had been discouraging. And she was honest. The counter to that went without saying.

Chat called Rina Rouge a 'Vixen', but Ladybug didn't think the name fit at all. Rina – Alya – would always be sly, clever and intelligent, but she would never be a Vixen.

 **Wild,**

Ladybug backed away slowly. It was another akuma attack and they'd somehow gotten to Chat again, but this time, it wasn't mind control. No, he stalked her on all fours, eyes watching her like a tiger would its pray. Except didn't tigers have normal eyes? Not the slitted ones that were just staring at her. He looked so different, wild and terrifying.

"C-chat," she said slowly, holding her hands up and really wishing she had her yo-yo right about now. The Akuma had managed to get it from her hands. "Come on, kitty. It's me."

He didn't hear her, crouching down and preparing to pounce. She watched him warily, waiting for just the right moment. Then he leapt and she dove under him, turning and racing for her yo-yo. She needed a lucky charm to deal with this cat.

She hadn't counted on his reflexes being even better than a cat's.

No sooner had her hand closed around her yoyo then he was on her. She closed her eyes and braced for pain. Instead, he was rubbing his head against her stomach and purring.

For several seconds she just watched him, and then she sighed. So much for her wild cat.

 **X-Ray,**

"It looks like you've broken your arms, legs and chest mulitple time," the doctor said worriedly to Marinette. "It's worrying. Can you explain this?"

Marinette sighed. "You can ask anyone at school. I'm just about the clumsiest person you will ever meet, and I go to College Dupant."

The man's eyes widened. "The one with all the akuma?"

She nodded. "One and the same. Whenever anyone gets hurt, Ladybug's magic fixes it, though."

He glanced back down at the x-rays before him. "Oh. Well, then. That explains it."

Marinette breathed back a sigh of relief. One bullet dodged. Thank goodness Miraculous Cure didn't leave scars too.

 **Yearning**

Once they figured out who the other's chosen was, Plagg and Tikki would get together during class and just try to forget the drama that was their chosens' lives. After all, Marinette yearned after Adrien and Chat Noir yearned after Ladybug. It had happened before, with previous chosen... but that really just made the whole thing that much more ridiculous to the two ancient beings.

 **Zoning** (Out)

"Marinette?"

The dark-haired girl jumped when an elbow nudged her in the side and she glanced up to see Mme. Bustier staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Um," Marinette said, feeling her cheeks heat up and glanced over at Alya who just watched her in amusement.

The traitor.

"If you would please pay attention and not zone out, I would appreciate it. I do put a lot of work into teaching you what you'll need to know for Lycee, and it is important, no matter how cute you may think the back of the person's head in front of you is."

Several people in the class snickered and Marinette wanted to sink into her seat. Mme. Bustier must be having a bad day for her to say something like that.

"Y...yes, Madam," Marinette muttered.

Fortunately, Adrien turned around at that moment and smiled at her. That, of course, made her feel infinitely better.

So she went back to trying to take notes.

Of course, not 5 minutes later, she was staring at the back of a blond head, zoning out again.

xXx

List given by sctwilightvampwolfgal at the ABC Challenge thread in the Ladybug Challenges forum. It's a fun place. Come check it out. :)


	2. X-over

AN: So this is basically the ABC challenge, but either mentioning another work or fandom or including it as if the two universes were one or somehow collided. :) Had to do a different fandom/work (or series of works) for each word. You get points if you can guess them all!

 **Antisemitism:**

She walked through the museum showing the different pictures and tables that held relics, all on the Holocaust. Their teacher had assigned books such as Shindler's List and The Hiding Place and Diary of Anne Frank for this section, and reading about it had been horrible. The antisemitism... Marinette found it appalling and disgusting, but seeing the evidence of it here...

"Never again," she whispered under her breath, one hand reaching up to caress the stones at her ears. "Not if I can help it."

 **Banner:**

Chat just _knew_ his Lady would be the death of him one day. And that day may very well be today because he'd very nearly had a heart attack when he'd shown up to a fight and found _The Incredible Hulk_ staring her down. She stood there, small, thin and red, glaring up at the muscled green man nearly 4 (or maybe 5? or 6?) times her height.

They contrasted strongly. He had to hold back the Christmas pun.

What was going on?

He wasn't sure. Did he _want_ to find out?

"Hulk, smash!" the large guy practically roared.

She simply shook her head and replied in strongly accented English. "Nope. Not Paris. If you want to smash something, you can very well go outside the city limits."

She said it so calmly.

Just standing there.

Like a twig he could snap in two with a flick of his fingers.

Chat didn't dare breathe.

Then, to his utter surprise, the big guy just nodded. "Hulk not smash Paris."

The blond very nearly collapsed when she nodded, _smiled_ at him and then _patted his hand_.

She was going to be the death of him.

 **Claustrophobia:**

Adrien had lived most of his life in luxury and large spaces. His bathroom, he knew, was actually larger than most people's rooms. His room, larger than many apartments. He liked going over to Nino's because his best-friend's room was small and messy. It felt _lived_ in.

The thing was, he'd also gotten used to large, open areas, and so he'd gotten to a point where he avoided particularly tiny spaces if he could. It wasn't usually anything bad. He had no problem going to the bathroom at school, with those tiny stalls, and he could slip into a janitor's closet to transform easily enough, but when he couldn't _control_ whether he could leave or not, things started to get rough. In all honesty, he wasn't sure whether that was a fear of small places or a fear of being locked away. Either one made him uncomfortable, although the latter was particularly bad. He could still deal with either one on their own, but wen they _combined_...

Even then, it didn't become too much of a problem if he was Chat Noir, but when he wasn't...

"Breathe, kid," he heard Plagg say to him around a mouth-full of cheese and he tried to follow the Kwami's advice. He really did.

"Just... hurry," he whispered, holding onto his head and curling up in a ball to make the space around them seem larger and burying his nose in his knees. It didn't help much. The stifling darkness didn't help either.

The whole thing had started with an akuma attack. A rabbit akuma attack. And not a giant one or even a small, deadly one, but a friendly, white rabbit with a waistcoat... and a watch.

Which probably explained why the akuma imprisoned people in giant, dark, rabbit holes that had people tumbling out of sight into their own, dark prisons. And, of course, Chat had had the misfortune of misstepping and falling down one himself. After he'd already used his cataclysm, of course.

At least no one, not even Hawk Moth, would have been able to see him detransform. He had to try and find some good to come out of this.

Then he heard the blessed words, "I'm ready, Kid."

"I'm gonna use cataclysm right away to get us out of here."

"I know."

Adrien nodded, wondering if Plagg could see him in the darkness. "You might need to recharge a third time."

A sigh. "Just try and take care of the guy before then."

Again, Adrien nodded in the darkness, not really trusting himself to do much more. Then he mustered up what courage he could and yelled: "Plagg, claws out!"

The green magic lit up the tiny space around him in a flash, but it was enough to see the slight indent from the original hole above him.

"Cataclysm!" he practically screamed and slammed his hand into the ceiling where he'd seen that indent.

The rays of sunlight above him gave him more relief than he'd thought humanly possible. He took just a moment to revel in it before taking a deep breath and hopping out and onto all fours, already feeling better and more than ready to help his Lady.

 **Drumroll:**

"Excuse me," Marinette said politely but loudly as she stood in front of the class. The kids all stopped talking and turned to look at her. "I have an announcement to make."

"Oh, wait! Wait!" Nino said with a large grin as he looked through his ipod quickly. Marinette just blinked at him.

"Um, okay?"

"Here!" He held up his ipod and took out his ear phone jack. "Drumroll, please!" And a drumroll sounded throughout the classroom.

Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Drumroll?" Alix asked. "Why do you need a drumroll? Unless you and Adrien are finally dating."

Several things happened at once. Chloe shrieked, Alya crowed, Nino gawked, Marinette squeaked and blushed bright red, and the rest of the class just cheered.

"W-what?" Marinette stuttered, her eyes glancing over to Adrien, who was also bright red and he was staring at her and now he knew and he'd hate her and end up getting that restraining order and she'd have to live with Chloe lording it over her that she'd screwed up her chance for the rest of her life and—

"Um... ok."

The whole room went utterly silent.

"What?!" Chloe shrieked. Adrien winced but didn't back down.

"Well, I just... kind of realized that the girl I like will... probably never like me back. I think I've known that for a while. S-so if Marinette wants to go on a date. Then sure."

Marinette wasn't sure whether she'd die of embarrassment or excitement or sheer happiness.

Over the din of the classroom erupting into a cacophony of sound, she swore she heard Nino play the Final Fantasy victory theme. For a moment, she appreciated it because she felt as if she'd finished some major battle and wanted to cheer aloud. But she could barely bring herself to breathe at this point.

And all because she'd been ready to announce a change in school policy.

 **Elf:**

Marinette couldn't help but pace as she absorbed what the man – elf – in front of her had told her. She really didn't like that he'd shown up just as her transformation had worn off... like he'd somehow been able to _follow_ her, despite the route _over rooftops_ she'd taken. It had been... well, she's shrieked as soon as he'd dropped in front of her and introduced himself as Glorfindel.

"So, thousands of years ago, magic was completely different. Everything we've been told about the world and evolution is wrong and it all had to do with magic."

"Yup," Tikki said with a nod. The tall elf beside her smiled down at her.

"You, Tikki, are what is called a 'Maia' and you took on this form to help save humanity."

The elf, apparently having said his piece remained silent.

"And according to your race, the elves, Earth will be under attack from an ancient evil called 'Morgoth'."

"Do not say his name!" The elf said suddenly, looking around as if the being mentioned would appear. He looked so worried that Marinette regretted repeating the name. It was the second time it had been mentioned, first by Tikki. Now, though...

Marinette sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Come on. Let me introduce you to Master Fu. Something tells me we'll need more Miraculous for this. "

 **Fragrance:**

Ladybug almost wished for akumas again. She didn't have to worry about hurting akumas so much because the magical cure would take care of everything. Akumas were fairly easy because the negative energy was tied to an item they had to break.

Akumas weren't normal-looking, red-haired women on some sort of wildlife kick.

Akumas weren't villains from across the sea.

Akumas didn't have innate powers that _controlled plants_ with _no way to stop her._

Marinette didn't think she got a whole lot of strange things from her miraculous, but the different scents in the air were... distracting her. And Chat, who was usually pretty dependable, had gotten one whiff of something and acted... well, like a cat on cat-nip.

Yeah. That was it. She was so done with this whole thing.

"Lucky Charm!"

Wait, why was it some sort of bat signal?

 **Gratitude:**

"Hey," the boy sitting on her railing said aloud, "thanks. For listening and talking to me and all. I... don't have a lot of people who talk to me or believe in me."

She smiled softly. "Honestly, I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm not dreaming."

The boy turned to her and smiled, the moonlight reflecting off of his light hair. "The cold doesn't give you a clue?"

Marinette's breath fogged in front of her again and she drew the blanket around her a little closer, snuggling into the chair she'd placed on her balcony.

"Well... maybe. But I did only just barely meet you. It really could still be a dream, you know?"

The boy grinned again, hopping up onto the railing and tapping the long stick in his hand on his shoulder. Honestly, they were so much alike, her kitty and this boy.

"Yeah. I know it's not because you believe in me that you can see me."

"Sorry," she whispered, her heart going out to this lonely teen. It had only been since she'd gotten her miraculous that she'd been able to meet him, or even interact with him, after all.

He shrugged. "I'm grateful. I'll take what I can get. Gonna head out now. Gotta finish frosting the country side by morning."

She nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow night?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, have fun, Jack."

"I always do." With that, the pale boy launched himself into the air and called out to the wind. Marinette watched him fly away with a sad smile and a shake of her head.

She was just about to head inside when she noticed a black-suited, blond-haired boy sitting on the rooftop across from her, mouth open and eyes wide.

"M-marinette," he said slowly, "Y-you can see him too? But I thought only... um..."

Marinette swore.

 **Heartbroken:**

How did this happen? Marinette kept asking herself dejectedly as she slowly rose into the arena. An akuma that could tear holes in space and time and apparently dimensions. Maybe even the fourth wall because:

"Welcome to the 73rd Annual Hunger Games!"

She'd never read it because she'd known it would break her heart. Now she was living it. Her mouth set in a grim line, she waited for the timer, because she had to survive this and get back to Paris and Chat.

And probably a therapist, because she was definitely leaving this arena alive.

 **Insidious:**

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat there, staring at the newest Akuma.

"Chat..." she said slowly.

"Yes, My Lady?" he answered weakly.

"Is that...?"

He nodded. "I think so."

"Do you think he has all of the powers?" she asked with a gulp.

A red beam appeared in the akuma's hand, long and glowing and Chat was already _so_ done because he did _not_ want to fight a lightsaber with his baton. And a car rose in the air with the akuma's hand movement.

He found himself swallowing as well. "Somehow, I think so, My Lady."

She cursed under her breath.

He didn't blame her.

"Hahahaha! I am Darth Sidious! You will all learn of the Power of the Dark Side!" the akuma yelled.

"Well," Chat said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt, "That's insidious."

"Not your best, Kitty," was all Ladybug would say. Then she called out, "Lucky Charm!" and Chat didn't blame her for doing so this early because they were _not_ going to be doing this otherwise.

The Lucky Charm ended up being a mask of Darth Vader.

They borrowed the rest from a nearby costume store. Chat ended up walking up to him and distracting him while Ladybug swooped down from behind. He avoided Ladybug. He couldn't also avoid Chat, who tore the Star Wars pin (the only thing not authentic to the series) off of his robe and cataclysmed it.

All in all, it was anti-climactic, and Chat couldn't be more grateful.

 **Jumper:**

Ladybug and Chat Noir stared at the four people in front of them and their... bunny? Although that was the strangest bunny either one of them had ever seen.

"So you jumped here... from another dimension...?" she asked slowly.

The four nodded.

"And you're here looking for... feathers?" Chat asked, just as incredulous.

"Well, they are magical feathers," the tall, blond one said with a bright smile.

"Has anything happened recently?" the shorter, brown-haired boy asked. "Something strange and unexplained."

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged glances, then looked back at the group. "Strange?" Chat said, "sure, but it's explainable."

"Although that might account for the increase in the akuma's powers lately," Ladybug pointed out.

Chat thought about that and nodded.

"Who?" the tall, black-haired guy asked gruffly.

Ladybug glanced at Chat, who shrugged as if to say 'why not?'

She conceded with a sigh. "Let me tell you about our local villain, Hawk Moth, and his akuma," she said.

 **Kindred:**

Ladybug had found a kindred spirit. Admittedly he was American and spoke very little French, but they got by well enough. But the thing was, he was bug themed, dressed in a red and blue, skin-tight suit, swung through the city from buildings and had super strength! Well, he could also climb walls where she couldn't, but she could definitely create and repair things where he couldn't, so she figured it was a decently fair trade. She wasn't sure that the hundreds of years of experience the suit (read Tikki) seemed to have vs. the 'Spider sense' he told her about was a fair trade, but she also didn't think she'd complain too much.

"So," she said as he told her how he used his web slingers, "any chance I can get some of these?"

 **License:**

"So," Marinette said slowly to the green-haired kid in front of her (at least his hair _looked_ green, it could very well just have been his hair gel), "I'm in the future." The kid nodded. "And in the future, everyone has a power."

"A quirk," he said with a nod and a smile. "Most people do."

"Right," she said, trying to return it and failing miserably. "And in said future, if I want to be a super hero, I have to have a license."

"Yup."

"And also, I'm in Japan."

This time the kid blinked. "You didn't even know that?"

"How do you speak French?"

He cocked his head to one side. "You're speaking Japanese."

"Right. Do you guys have any medicine for headaches?" she asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Stupid time-traveling akuma. And here she thought Time Breaker had been bad.

 **Macabre:**

"Alright, so tell me exactly what we're looking for again?" Ladybug asked the man in front of her.

The guy, who said to call him Nick, sighed and held up a large, old-fashioned key as he stepped past yet another barrier in the darkness. "It looks a lot like this," he said.

"What's it doing down here?" She gestured around to their surroundings – the catacombs of Paris. Old bones littered all sorts of chambers and she would have already gotten thoroughly lost if it hadn't been for the map on her yo-yo. That ability was almost more amazing than her lucky charm, in her opinion.

"It was hidden from the Royals."

"The... Um... I'm guessing that's more of that secret society thing?"

"Yeah."

They continued on in silence for several more minutes before Ladybug spoke again, half to get some answers, half to distract herself from the macabre area.

"So, why did you approach me?"

"Thought you were some sort of Ladybug wessen."

"And now that you know I'm not?"

He must have noted her uneasiness because he turned and shot her a dry look. "You insisted on coming."

Right. She had. She regretted it now.

"Well, you did just apologize for bringing a war to my doorstep. I didn't exactly want you out of my sight."

The man nodded. "I get that. I'd feel similarly if this were my own city. "That's why you're here."

She sighed. "Alright, explain to me one more time, whats a Grimm?"

He didn't groan, but she could tell it was a near thing.

 **New:**

"Wait," Marinette said to the girl in front of her. Said girl was fingering a long stick of wood carefully. "You're from the French Ministry of Magic, and you've come to help me fight off Akuma?"

"Yes," the girl said.

Marinette blinked. "Magic – outside of the Miraculous – _exists_?"

The girl, a woman in her late teens with long, blond hair, smiled and nodded again. She still looked a little nervous.

"Well," Chat said from off to one side. "This is new."

Ladybug shot him a glare.

"What?" he asked. "We can use the help. We'll just have to adapt."

Ladybug frowned but (reluctantly) nodded. She wasn't happy about it, and wouldn't trust this woman until she proved herself, but Chat wasn't wrong.

This should prove...interesting at least.

 **Opulent:**

"My Lady... I have to ask why you're looking so... opulent today?" Chat asked slowly after he'd landed beside her.

"Don't," she growled to him as she adjusted the red corset and once again went to swing after the akuma. The stupid, enormous dress _with a bussel_ kept throwing her off. Go figure. And she _could not_ take them off!

Instead of answering, he just raised an eyebrow at her.

She sighed. "The Akuma is the Phantom of the Opera. Anyone he hits with his beam attacks becomes part of the play."

Chat's other eyebrow joined the first in it's raised position. "Let me guess, Christine?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Does that make me Raoul?"

"Chat."

"What?"

Ladybug just shook her head and swung after the villain. She was definitely getting the hang of doing all of this physical activity in the corset.

 **Perilous:**

Chat finished his transformation and picked up his beeping baton, flicking it open to see ladybug looking very nervous.

"My Lady," he said with a big smile, hoping that could help ease her worry at least. "What can I do for you today?"

"Um..." she said, sounding unsure for the first time since that first day he'd met her. His smile faded a bit.

"My Lady?"

She sighed. "You can help me steal an urn."

He blinked. "What?"

xXx

He saw her pacing on the roof of the museum as he approached the building. Then he landed beside her and couldn't help but fold his arms.

"Alright, so explain this all to me," he said.

She sighed. "I was going to the museum with my parents. We don't get to spend a whole lot of time together because of their business, so we try and set up one family thing a month." Wow, she must be _really_ upset about this for her to give away personal information like that, as vague as it was. Chat tried not to feel jealous of her. Why couldn't his father do that?

"Anyway," she went on, waving her hand dismissively, completely at odds with the look of concentration on her face. "We were looking over some of the new Egyptian artifacts that came in, and then my kwami... well, she freaked out." She shook her head. "Tikki almost gave herself away, she was that upset. And Chat, I have to tell you, Tikki is probably the most level-headed person in existence. I've never seen her get really angry or upset before. Seeing her like that..." she shuddered. "She said we have to take that urn and destroy whats inside of it. Something about how she thought they'd all been taken care of and then this one turns up..."

"Well," Chat said slowly, "did she tell you why?"

Ladybug sighed again. "She said something about 'parasitic space snakes' called the 'Gould' or something, and apparently that's what they fought against in Ancient Egypt."

Chat's eyes kept widening. "Parasitic space snakes? Seriously?"

"Apparently the pyramids were landing pads for ancient Egyptian space ships."

His jaw fell open. "I don't know whether that's terrifying or severely cool."

"Judging from how Tikki reacted, terrifying. I..." she faded off, shoulders hunched forward and one hand rubbing the other arm nervously. "I've never met anything that can faze Tikki, let alone scare her."

Chat rubbed his jaw. "You know, instead of stealing it, I have a better idea."

xXx

One week later, Chat held the urn up to her triumphantly and she just sat there with an open mouth.

"How did you get that?" she asked.

He smiled smugly. "Secret."

She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't steal it?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

For a few more seconds, she continued to stare at him. Then, finally, she just shook her head. "All right. You did good, Kitty."

Chat grinned. "Thank you. So, what do we do with it?"

Ladybug picked up the bag she'd brought along and reached inside, pulling out two gas masks and some metal plating.

"What's that for?"

"To protect ourselves against the 'parasitic space snake'. Apparently it's pronounced "Gou'a'ould", by the way. Put the mask on and I'll fix the plate over the back of your neck. It'll limit our movements, but the protection will be worth it. They can only enter the human body through the neck and mouth."

Chat's grip tightened on the urn. "Enter the human body? Somehow I don't think they just make a home..."

"No. They... take the human as a host, use their body and keep that human trapped inside their own mind."

He held the urn away from him on instinct, eyeing it with disgust, suddenly very thankful that his bad luck curse hadn't somehow caused it to drop or shatter on the way here.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one thinking that. "Chat! Set that down before you drop it."

"Right." He complied as gently as he could before stepping back several paces, very much intending to stay well away from it. Ladybug tossed him the mask and he dropped it. Somehow, that just made him feel worse. He put his mask on while she did the same. Then she took one of the obviously home-made platings and pulled the strings connected on either end through the straps on the gas mask so it hung over the back of the neck. He did the same for her, securing it tightly, and then they faced the urn, standing innocently in the center of the abandoned warehouse they'd decided to meet at.

"So, we have to break it," Ladybug said with a sigh.

Chat couldn't help it. He let out an audible 'urk'. It had cost a lot of money and his father would not be happy that he'd more or less begged for it and then had broken it. He'd be grounded for months after this. And yet, invading space snakes...

"Alright, ready when you are, My Lady."

"Lucky Charm!" A shovel fell in her hands. She blinked at it. Her partner did the same. Then Ladybug shrugged and swung it at the vase. It shattered and, for one, anti-climactic moment, nothing happened. Chat was about to be very frustrated because they apparently hadn't needed to break it after all, and then, the thing came flying through the air like a hissing demon.

He automatically fell back, feeling Plagg more or less freaking out in the back of his mind.

"Cataclysm!" he shouted as the thing managed to hook onto his clothes. His super clothes that _shouldn't be cut._

" _Chat!_ " Ladybug yelled, swinging her shovel at the snake. It didn't let go. So it was probably a good thing that he was able to grab the end of it's tail with his right hand. The thing let out one last, enormous, painful shriek and then fell still. Ladybug didn't take any chances and cut the thing's head off with the shovel.

They burned it for good measure.

"You know," Chat said a couple of minutes later, just before Ladybug would detransform, "That was scarier than the Akuma, I think."

"Perilous," Ladybug heartily agreed before she rushed out of the building, leaving Chat to detransform and pick up the pieces of the urn.

 **Quality (and Quantity):**

"Why am I here?" Adrien asked unsurely, looking down at the light blue jacket he wore over the black slacks.

"Fundraiser," Nino replied with a raised eyebrow. He was dressed like a butler.

"Well yeah, but why me?"

Marinette, Alya and Nino all turned to stare at him.

"Um, you do know you're a model, right?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, dude. You'll draw in customers like nothing else. You did say it wouldn't be a problem." That was before he'd actually shown up and they'd presented him with a suit reminiscent of Ouran High School Host Club.

Actually, Alya had talked Marinette into putting her hair up and taking a suit as well. It looked... really good on her.

Still, he glanced at the line outside the door, of which Chloe was the first in line.

"If it really bothers you, we could put the suit on Nino and you could be the waiter," Marinette said softly. It was one of the few sentences she'd been able to say to him without stuttering.

Adrien glanced at the door again, and then he looked at his friends, all gathered around him. They'd really let him get out of this if he said the word. He could see it on their faces.

Taking a deep breath, he smiled. "Nah, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Nino asked.

Adrien nodded.

He didn't have a lot of friends, but those he did have were amazing. He'd much rather have a few like this than the whole world.

"Besides, it's only for an hour, right?"

"Right," they replied, smiling.

"And if you have any problems, let us know," Alya promised. "We'll take care of it."

With the way she punched her fist into her hand, he didn't doubt it.

Yeah, he'd take quality over quantity any day.

 **Reference:**

She met the old man on a patrol. Well, saw him really, just sitting outside a cafe, drinking tea of all things and working on something... strange.

That's what really drew her to him to begin with. The odd circles and equations on the papers spread across his table, held down by different cups and glasses and plates for paperweights.

After she'd paused for a moment and studied what he was doing, she realized that something felt... _off_ about him. She couldn't really describe it, except that he felt like he didn't really _belong_.

Of course, right about then, he turned and glanced up at her with a raised, if amused, eyebrow.

"Are you just going to stand there all night, or are you going to come and sit down?"

She blinked and looked off into the distance. "Well, I have patrol..."

He waved a hand. "You can grant an old man a moment's time, can't you? I'll even buy the coffee. Or tea, if that's what you prefer."

Something about his attitude made her smile for some reason, so she decided to humor him and jumped down. "I'll take some hot chocolate."

He smiled over at her. "You know, you super heroes remind me of myself and my older brother'." He shook his head. "I hope you're less reckless than we were."

It was her turn to raise an amused eyebrow and glance at the blond hair streaked through with white and tied into a pony tail behind him. "Reckless and blond. Reminds me of someone I know." She was sure that somewhere in the city, on his own patrol, Chat Noir sneezed.

He chuckled and sat back, placing his pencil on the table.

"You know," he said, "You've given me a lot of answers to my questions."

She blinked. That...didn't happen often. Her brow furrowed. "Most people say I give them more questions than answers."

He shrugged. "Most people don't have the... perspective that I do."

"Oh?" she asked as the waitress brought her a steaming cup and then handed her a pad and paper.

"Can I get an autograph?" she asked. Ladybug could practically see the stars in her eyes. She smiled and nodded, writing down a few on different pieces of paper as she saw the other people in the mostly empty shop staring at them.

"Well," the old man said as the Waitress thanked them and left. "Not many other people are from another world."

Ladybug managed to turn her head before she spit out the sip of chocolate all over his papers.

"Thanks for that," he said, handing her a napkin as she coughed.

"Excuse me?" she asked once she'd gotten a hold of her breathing again.

The man folded his arms smugly. "Another world. My brother and I are from a different place. Sadly he... passed on a couple of years ago. We were around during World War Two, you know."

Ladybug's eyes widened. "Seriously? That would make you—"

He held up a hand and she cut off. "Way too old," he finished for her.

"You don't look that old," she muttered.

He smiled. "Thank you."

"So, what do you mean, you're from another world?"

The man sighed. "Well, my brother and I are from a world where the science of Alchemy actually exists. It's a way to circulate energy through your body and the world around you. Depending on the equation you use, you can mold that energy however you need... well, for the most part. Due to... circumstances, my brother got trapped here trying to help me with some forbidden alchemy. Eventually he got back, but brought more trouble with him. When he came to this world to stop both worlds from going to war, I came with him. He was the only family I had left."

Ladybug continued to stare at him, her drink forgotten in front of her.

"But we were surprised when we didn't have alchemy over here. Well, not without some pretty specific circumstances. We'd been trying to figure out what made our worlds different for years. Then you and Hawk Moth come along with your magical items, and suddenly this world and all the energy in it makes a lot more sense."

"More... sense." She shook her head. "Somehow, that just leaves _me_ with more questions."

The man laughed outright at that. "It's just a matter of excess energy. Either it goes into alchemy and alchestry, as it did in my world, or it goes into magic, like it does in this world. In any case, I wanted to thank you for helping me make progress in my studies after almost 60 years. Hence the chocolate."

Ladybug blinked. "Oh, um... you're welcome?"

The old man's smile never dimmed. "Well, I have some things to work on, and you have your patrol to finish. Just, if you ever need something, here's my card. I have references, books and ideas concerning all sorts of... obscure things." He handed a business card to her that said "Alphonse Elric, Mathematician, Psychologist, Philanthropist" in a plain, businesslike font.

She sipped at her cooling drink while she read everything on it. He had a phone number on the back, an e-mail address and, surprisingly enough, an address.

"Oh, well, thank you."

"And I can keep a secret as well," he said with a wink. "If you need a place to lay low for a while without giving... anything away, look me up."

She blinked, and then smiled. She wasn't sure she'd be able to take him up on that, but it was kind of him to offer.

"Thank you," she said softly before finishing her drink and standing up. "I'll hopefully be seeing you around, Mr. Elric."

"Farewell, Ladybug," he said, already working on his notes again.

 **Sangfroid:**

Two men stood, staring at each other coolly. The first, one Gabriel Agreste, billionaire and fashion designer. The second, one Ishida Ryuuken, visiting doctor from Japan. They conversed in English, neither knowing the other's language well enough (or willing to give the ground to let the other stand on their own turf) to really communicate.

Both had one son there. Both sons did not want to be there, but Gabriel had insisted that they all speak over lunch. They had discussed various boring subjects throughout the meal and then, upon Gabriel's insistence, returned to the Agreste mansion.

Adrien had to admit, he was impressed. The white-haired doctor from Japan didn't look intimidated in the slightest.

Neither of the boys seemed to be all that sure exactly what the two older men were talking about, but apparently Gabriel needed a surgery done and he needed it to not interfere with his life and business. Adrien was left to wonder just how serious said surgery was supposed to be as the two men continued to discuss it.

"I cannot stay in the hospital for two days," Gabriel insisted. "Let alone two weeks. I called you in from Japan because you are rumored to be the best, the fastest, including the healing time."

M. Ishida didn't so much as twitch. "The body heals as the body heals. There is nothing anyone can do for that. I have given you my estimation. If your body heals faster, you may be able to return to work within a week, but if it isn't, I will not simply allow you to damage yourself further."

Before Gabriel continued the argument (that Adrien didn't see much of a reason for, M. Ishida had a very good point), he turned to Adrien, who couldn't help but hope that they would _finally_ be dismissed.

"Adrien, why don't you show M. Ishida's son around the mansion."

Adrien glanced up at the boy, a couple of years older than him, who hadn't said a word during lunch. He was almost as intimidating as his father. And yet, he was willing to do just about anything to get away from all of this.

"Of course, father," Adrien said with a respectful nod before turning to the younger Ishida. "If you would follow me, M. Ishida."

The boy, stoic as ever, nodded and followed him out.

Once they shut the doors behind them, Adrien let out a sigh. He noticed Ishida give him a look out of the corner of his eye, but the older boy said nothing. They just stood there for several seconds, neither really knowing what to do or say.

"Your father is quite adamant," Ishida finally said.

Adrien blinked in surprise. "Well yours doesn't look like a pushover either."

"Indeed. It seemed like some sort of sangfroid staring contest."

The blond blinked again. He had a feeling he'd be doing that a lot around this boy. "What?"

Ishida shot him an amused look. "Sangfroid. The ultimate stoicism."

For a moment, Adrien just stared at the Japanese boy. Then he burst into laughter. "You're right!"

After several seconds, he managed to calm down and grinned up at the other boy. "So, is there anything you would like to see?"

"Not particularly. Unless you have a work-out room or dojo."

"Well, I did have to learn karate somewhere. Come on, it's this way." He began to walk down the hall, leading the other boy to the room he'd learned martial arts in. Something about the way Ishida moved made Adrien think he had some experience himself, which gave him an idea. "Hey, would you like to spar?"

"I don't really know a lot of hand-to hand. I am better with long-range weapons."

And Adrien was used to fighting with a baton or a sword. "Really? I'm more close-ranged weapons. Still, you can't be that bad with the way you move."

He looked at Ishida over his shoulder in time to see the boy raise one, amused eyebrow. "You seem to have some... experience yourself."

Adrien grinned. "You could say that. I take fencing and have some extra curricular activities that keep me on my toes. What kind of long-range weapons?"

"A bow and arrows."

"Nice."

"Indeed."

They reached the large room with mirrors on one side and mats covering more or less everything. Adrien took off his shoes and the button-down he liked to wear, setting them both off to the side. Ishida did the same, also setting his glasses to the side.

Despite his former words, Ishida didn't seem to mind the idea of sparring, and Adrien had to grin. The kid didn't know he was going up against a super hero.

An hour later, they both left, grinning and rather impressed with the other, as they'd both given as good as they'd taken. Adrien was particularly impressed. If he didn't have the experience he did as Chat Noir, he doubted he would have stood a chance against Ishida. The biggest tell the older boy had was that he kept fingering the little charm he had on the bracelet around his wrist.

 **Temporary:**

Adrien blinked at the woman in front of him. The woman who'd applied to be his new nanny (not that he needed one! He was 15, for goodness sake!). The woman who he'd just sworn he'd seen come _floating down_ from the sky with her umbrella.

She had a large, leather bag, a hat and a rather old-fashioned coat. She was also staring down his father like there was no tomorrow. Like he didn't intimidate her at all.

"And you have experience?" Gabriel asked.

"Naturally," she responded easily, reaching in her bag and handing him a piece of paper. "You did say you only needed a temporary nanny. I am definitely qualified."

"I see," Gabriel said, looking over the paper in front of him. "Very well. It seems everything is in order. Adrien, meet Ms. Poppins, your new nanny."

He really wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

 **Unparalleled:**

Ladybug and Chat Noir found the weird shadows that weren't anything like akuma strange. The fact that only they seemed to be able to do anything about them went far beyond that into worrying territory. The kid about their age jumping out of nowhere with a giant key that could take down just about anything drove up the absurdity, but the final straw for both of them was the akuma showing up and claiming temporary truce.

Of course, once all the shadows were gone, the akuma turned on all three of them, demanding the Miraculous and the blade that had power unparalleled.

They took solace in the fact that some things never changed.

 **Victim:**

Hawk Moth hadn't won. He still didn't have Chat's ring. At least, as far as she knew. And once he'd taken her earrings, at least he'd left her alone (with a threat that if she did anything, he would go after her parents). She'd told Chat not to come anywhere near her. Warned him, threatened him even, because she knew Hawk Moth was watching her.

So she went to school, tried to smile, tried to ignore the fact that she was no longer a super hero. Tried to ignore the fact that Adrien was gone too. Tried to ignore the worried looks Alya shot her, or the disgusted looks Chloe shot her. At least they didn't know.

It was only two or so days since that dreadful fight, and she was slumping home, dejected and missing Tikki _so badly_ _._ Why had all of this happened? She would do _anything_ to get it all back. Anything to stop Hawk Moth. Anything to help Chat again. Anything to—

 _Hello, there, Marinette._

A voice in her head caused her to jump and whip around. On the lid of a window sill of the store she'd just passed sat a... creature. It could have been a cat, if said cat had been bred with a bunny. And there was something... different about it.

She glanced around, but no one else seemed to be able to see it.

"Um, did you just talk to me?" she asked, feeling stupid. Although she knew there were magical creatures out there.

 _I did. I could feel your wish, Marinette, and I'm here to offer you a deal – a contract, so to speak. I can give you powers in exchange for a wish._

Marinette blinked. "Y-you can?" she asked, looking around again as if to try and spot the hidden cameras. Then her eyes narrowed. "Are you an Akuma?"

The creature tipped it's head as if in confusion. _You mean the monsters that have been attacking here recently? Oh, no. I have nothing to do with them. I'm actually what your society would call an alien._

She crossed her arms and frowned. "Then are you against Hawk Moth?"

 _No. I don't really care what happens with him one way or the other._

Well, she didn't like the sound of that. "Then why would you offer me powers? Can you even give me powers?"

 _Of course I can give you powers. I can even introduce you to some other Magical Girls, if you would like._

"Magical Girls?" Marinette asked, eyes widening.

The creature continued as if she hadn't spoken. _And as for why, well, there are two reasons: 1. This universe is in entropy. The races of the galaxy are spending more energy than they can make. My race, you can call me Kyubey, by the way, has been trying to save the universe by granting young humans the ability to create and use their own magic because we've found that they do the best and can create energy no other race can. 2. Do you really think that this Hawk Moth of yours is the only magical being out there affecting and hurting humans?_

Marinette bit her lip. Well, she hadn't really thought of it that way.

"There are other things out there?" she asked softly.

Kyubey nodded. _There are beings called witches. They end up creating pocket dimensions that leak dark energy that affect the humans around them, often causing them to commit suicide or creating misfortune that causes terrible accidents. Not everybody has the ability to do this, but you do._

"Could I... still fight Hawk Moth?" she asked slowly.

 _I don't see why not._

"And what about this wish? What can it be?"

 _Anything._ _Whatever you want. I won't give you ideas because that can influence the wish and the form your powers will take, but you can wish for anything at all._

She felt her stomach drop. This was her chance. She could get Tikki back. She could get the miraculous back. She could stop Hawk Moth from knowing her and Chat's identities. Or... or she could _stop Hawk Moth altogether._

Part of her wanted to jump at this. Part of her... thought it was too good to be true.

"How long will I have to think on this?" she asked softly, because she couldn't very well dismiss it either.

For the first time, the creature looked hesitant. _Not long..._ is said slowly. _But I don't want to rush or pressure you either._

"Then just be honest."

 _We don't really know. When you can't see me anymore, the time to make a contract will have passed. That could be in a few minutes or a few years. No one can ever tell, not even us._

Marinette nodded, thinking this over. "I'm guessing you'll know where to find me," she said after a few minutes.

 _Of course,_ the Creature said with a nod. It hopped down off of the window sill and began to walk away. _If you decide to do it, you can call out to me and I'll come._

"Very well," she said with another nod of her head. "Have a good evening." She didn't thank it. She wasn't sure she should. So she turned and walked away.

xXx

Marinette asked her parents what they would wish for if they could wish for anything in the universe. Her mother said her daughter's safety and happiness. Her father said the lack of akuma. Alya said she'd wish to be a super hero like Ladybug (and then went on a 20 minute rant about how she hadn't been seen for a few days). Nino said he'd wish for Adrien to come back (apparently he'd been gone on a shoot of some kind) and for things with his home life to get better. Chloe said she wouldn't wish for anything because she had everything and why are you trying to talk to me, plebeian! Sabrina said she'd wish to be more like Chloe. Alix said she'd wish to be even stronger and faster than she was now and Kim said about the same. Rose said she'd wish for world peace (which actually caused Marinette to pause and consider the sheer scale before she decided that forcing everyone to be peaceful was probably just as bad as the wars themselves, freedom had its place after all, even if she didn't like it – she certainly didn't want to get along with Chloe). Juleka said she'd wish for people to be more accepting. Mylene said she'd wish to be braver and Iven said he'd rather not talk about it.

She didn't get to Max, or Nethaniel and she definitely didn't want to speak with Lila, but Mme. Bustier said she'd wish for her students to stay safe and always be able to learn what they needed to.

Sadly, the two people she wanted to talk to most, she couldn't get a hold of; Tikki and Adrien. Well, she'd actually really like to talk to Chat, but he'd kept his promise to stay away from her so far and she had no reason to believe he would do otherwise any time soon (at least if the stupid cat had any sense left in him).

But when all was said and done, she knew that while she may not be Ladybug anymore, she still had a duty to Paris.

So that night, she took a deep breath, got onto the roof and called out for Kyubey.

 _Hello, Marinette!_ It said almost immediately, dropping onto the railing next to her.

"Kyubey," she said with a solemn nod.

 _Have you made your decision?_

Again, she nodded. "I have?"

 _And?_

She took a deep breath. "I wish that Chat Noir and I had defeated Hawk Moth and saved Paris."

And thus, she gained her own powers and regained her miraculous, and unknowingly became a victim.

 **Waiting:**

Adrien didn't know how long he'd been waiting for her to come back, because she _would_. He had to believe that. All of the magical containers that Master Fu had constructed to hold the Akuma and the fact that he couldn't _undo the damage_ caused by them and...

Between his growing unpopularity in Paris, his duties as a super hero and his home life, Adrien didn't often smile anymore. The world felt gray and dreary and dead and the only spot of light, the only hope left to him, was that she'd somehow find her way back to them.

Which was why he couldn't help but stare in shock when she dropped back in front of him during an Akuma attack a good four months after she'd vanished. Thankfully, that akuma stopped and stared in shock too.

"L-ladybug?" he asked, almost not daring to believe.

She popped right back up, looking down at her hands. "Well, what do you know," she said aloud, "it worked. I am back... and in the same body. Well, that's pleasant."

He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "M-my Lady?" he asked warily, glaring over at the Akuma. If this was some sort of illusion, the Akuma would _greatly_ regret it.

She glanced over at him and her face lit up. "Chat!" she said happily.

"Duck!" he yelled as the akuma, a giant (why did it have to be a _giant_? So much destruction!) that moved far to fast for his height and weight, grabbed at her. To his surprise, she _didn't_ duck. Instead she back flipped at _just the right moment_ over the Akuma's hand, landing on said hand as if it were solid ground.

"No chakra," he heard her grumble. "Of course. I'll have to relearn it for this world. Well, that just made this harder."

Despite her words, he could only watch in shock as she raced up the giant's arm, taking her yoyo and throwing it around his neck before swinging down and around him.

"Where's the akuma?" she called out.

Chat had to close his mouth to answer. "Um, the pencil over his left ear!"

"Gotcha!" She said, dodging the hands trying to come after her easily. She crawled and flipped all over him, like some sort of spider, taking everything to a new level.

"Holy cow," he said. He'd gotten pretty good at balance and jumping and what not, but not _that_ good.

"Yeah, she's really grown," a new voice said. He turned with a yelp to see a red kwami.

Right about then, his brain short-circuited. "Um... are you...?"

The kwami nodded solemnly. "Ladybug's kwami."

"Wait, then how is she...?"

"She made that suit for when she came back."

His eyes widened even further. "Are you telling me she's doing _all of that_ without powers?!"

The kwami nodded again and smiled at him. "Well, she has been stuck in the elemental nations for the last 20 years. She learned how to be a ninja – well, a kunoichi – from the Sage Naruto himself!"

"Tikki! Transform me!"

Suddenly, the kwami disappeared and Chat turned just in time to see Ladybug capture the butterfly. She didn't release it.

Then she smiled and rushed over to Chat. "I'll do a miraculous cleanse in a minute. First we need to go see Master Fu. I have the strangest tale to tell."

 **Xylography:**

Chat Noir saw the kid sitting on a bench in the Parc du Champs de Mars reading a book on Xylography (Chat didn't even know what that was). He had a blue hat with a pine tree on it and... there was just something about him.

He watched the kid for a few minutes from the shadows, as if figuring out a puzzle. Then a very similar looking girl in a pink sweat shirt ran up to him.

"Dipper! Dipper! Look!" she said, holding out her arm. Chat winced and backed away instinctively. It had a pigeon on it. How she'd run with a pigeon on her arm, Chat decided he didn't want to know.

The kid sighed and looked up at the girl. "Mable," he said slowly, "we're here to see if the weird things happening here are anything like what happened in Gravity... wait, where are Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford?"

"Over there," she said, making a shoeing motion towards the Eiffel Tower.

The kid sighed and stood up. "We should probably go stop them before they do something really stupid."

"Please, they weren't even arguing," Mable said with another wave of her hand.

The kid, Dipper apparently, looked at her, his face draining of color. Mable seemed to really understand what she'd said because she looked over at Dipper for several seconds before they took off in that direction.

"Why didn't you stay with them?" he asked. "It was your turn!"

"I'm sorry!" she replied.

Chat, suddenly worried, followed them to their 'Gruncles'.

And another akuma.

They stopped the tower from falling, thankfully. Ladybug got there in time to take the akuma out and cleansed everything without Chat having to use his cataclysm. Which was great because he'd decided he wasn't going to let any of these 'Pines' people out of his sight until they left Paris.

 **Yank:**

Marinette's transformation had just worn off in the back of an alley way. She'd had one hand out to catch Tikki and another reaching into her purse to grab the cookies she left there. She'd just turned around to head out into the streets when something on her arm yanked her back.

Surprised and more than a little shocked, she turned to see a man who hadn't been there before. Her eyes widened. Had he seen that? Had he seen her?

"Hello," he said pleasantly.

She could barely say anything, although she did take in the form before her. The man wore an old-fashioned tweed jacket and a bow tie, of all things. Frankly, he was a fashion faux pas in more or less everything he wore.

"Um," she managed to squeak out, "hello?"

"You know," he said as he walked around, examining her, "I've never seen anything like what you just did before, and I've seen a lot in my time."

Marinette's stomach froze into ice and she thought she may very well be sick right then and there. Why hadn't she seen this man before? She'd looked around! So _why_?!

"You can't tell anyone!" she blurted out.

The man blinked at her, seeming to be taken back.

"Tell anyone? Why would I tell anyone? Who would I tell?"

"Um...lots of... people?" she said, hating how it sounded more like a question than an answer. She'd also wanted to be as vague as possible so as to not give him ideas.

He shook his head. "Nah. I won't tell anyone. I'm the Doctor, by the way." As he said that, he took out a small, pen-like object and pointed it at her for several seconds. Then he flicked it up and it changed shape as he examined it. "Well that's unusual."

"I thought all Time Lords were dead," Tikki suddenly cut in, drawing attention to her. Marinette's jaw almost dropped. Tikki was more worried about keeping her identity secret than Marinette was (which said quite a bit).

The man just stared at the Kwami for several seconds before he nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, that explains some things, although not all of the readings I got. Besides that was far more powerful than it should be. Just how long have you been here, little one?"

Tikki just crossed her arms.

"Tell me how you survived first."

The Doctor frowned. "I will be happy to tell you if you tell me how you survived your own crisis and ended up on Earth yourself."

Tikki's frown deepened and then she turned to Marinette. "Don't get involved with him. He'll be nothing but trouble."

The man laughed out loud. "Oh, I like you."

"Hmph," Tikki replied. Then she turned and grabbed Marinette's hand, leading her out of the alley way. "Come on, Marinette."

"B-but Tikki, he knows—"

She shook her head. "We don't have to worry about that with him, Marinette."

"It was a pleasure to meet you," the man called after her.

Marinette glanced over her shoulder at him, but he was already gone.

She hadn't felt this confused in a _long_ time.

 **Zeal:**

"So!" Chat yelled as he dodged another green bolt. "Ghosts are real."

"Yup!" The white-haired man beside him (Danny Phantom, apparently) said, throwing up a green shield.

"And you're half ghost?"

Danny grunted as he dodged more rays from the little demons surrounding them.

"Yes!"

"And how is that _paw_ -sible! I saw you! You were human! How can you be alive and dead?!"

"Don't you ever watch the news! I saved the world five years ago! And we've never figured it all—" he cut off and shot into the air, "—out!"

"And the battle cry?"

The man shrugged, managing to capture one of the little, green goblins in the round, cylinder thing. Chat was able to shoot another two towards him and he caught them too.

"That's what you focus on, really?"

Chat shrugged and somersaulted below some of the attacking ghosts. "I'm just curious."

Danny sighed, finally having gained enough height to sweep the light from the thermos over the area and consequently sucking even more ghosts into it. Chat couldn't help but be relieved. That had been a nasty, if short, fight.

"My dad says it's part of the 'Fenton Zeal' and is inherited. Really it's just a dumb phrase that I got into the habit of saying when I was 14."

The blond super hero blinked. "Wait, you started this at 14 too? Is that like the super hero starting age or something?"

Danny rubbed the back of his head as he landed. "Dunno. Gotta start some time though, right?"

Chat grinned. "In- _fur-_ iably. Hey, look at that! I can do it in English too! Ha! Take that, world!"


End file.
